UCF RESTORES today unveiled its groundbreaking Resiliency Command Center 麻豆精品 S� a first-of-its-kind mobile behavioral health facility designed to provide a safe environment for evidence-based behavioral healthcare to first responders at the scenes of crises, including natural disasters, mass casualty events and line-of-duty tragedies.
Supported by the Florida Legislature, the Florida Division of State Fire Marshal, Lockheed Martin and UCF, the mobile command center is equipped to deliver trauma-informed care and mental health resources to emergency responders statewide. The unit includes private consultation rooms and staff quarters, ensuring clinicians can provide care in a safe, confidential environment at the heart of emergency response operations.
Since 2019 UCF RESTORES has dedicated nearly 900 hours of crisis response support to more than 50 of Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 most devastating events, including the Surfside building collapse and the state 麻豆精品 S檚 most catastrophic hurricanes. Pegasus Professor of Psychology Deborah Beidel is executive director of the program.
UCF RESTORES provides clinical treatment services to first responders, front-line medical personnel, military veterans, active-duty military personnel, and survivors of mass violence and natural disasters 麻豆精品 S� helping them overcome trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder and lead fulfilling careers and family lives. The program 麻豆精品 S檚 innovative therapy includes elements of virtual reality, with treatment success rates far exceeding the national average.
As part of Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 State Emergency Response Plan 麻豆精品 S檚 (SERP) Mental Wellness Incident Management Team, UCF RESTORES 麻豆精品 S� licensed clinicians are among the first on the ground when tragedy strikes. Until now, the team has provided psychological first aid in borrowed, makeshift spaces, lacking the structure and privacy necessary for effective care.
The all-new Resiliency Command Center addresses this gap, creating a controlled, trauma-informed environment for emergency response clinicians to meet first responders where they are 麻豆精品 S� at the frontlines of crisis.
During the event UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright thanked state Sen. Tom Wright and state Rep. David Smith for their 麻豆精品 S渦nwavering support and advocacy for this program. 麻豆精品 S� He acknowledged Lockheed Martin for their collaboration with UCF RESTORES and their partnerships across many other areas of UCF.
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麻豆精品 S淎fter Champlain Towers collapsed, UCF RESTORES deployed alongside the State Fire Marshal team with mental health support for search and rescue teams, 麻豆精品 S� Wright says. 麻豆精品 S淭hese experiences revealed the lack of secure space to support our emergency personnel to do their work. The command center will close that gap. It will provide confidential treatment, space in the aftermath of disasters and help to strengthen our first responders as they go about the heroic work. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淚 spent my career in the U.S. Marine Corps, retired as a colonel. I 麻豆精品 S檓 one of the few combat veterans serving in the Legislature today, so I understand the visible and unseen wounds of war and the trauma our first responders deal with, 麻豆精品 S� Smith says. 麻豆精品 S淭hat 麻豆精品 S檚 why I was happy to support an appropriation of state funding for the UCF RESTORES Resiliency Command Center. Whether it 麻豆精品 S檚 the Surfside collapse or other tragedies that might strike Florida, we need these on-site, real-time assets available for our first responders. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淭oday, we celebrate the inauguration and unveiling of a mental health command trailer for the UCF RESTORES program, a project born from a shared commitment to the well-being of our first responders, 麻豆精品 S� Florida Division of State Fire Marshal Director JoAnne Rice says. 麻豆精品 S淔or me, it has been an absolute honor to work alongside Dr. Beidel and her devoted team, as well as Deputy Executive Director Dr. [Kellie] O 麻豆精品 S橠are and Second Alarm Project on this project and so many others. Your passion and your dedication inspire me every day. Over the years, we’ve built an incredible partnership with this team, especially during hurricanes, providing essential behavioral health and resources when and where they are needed. Together, we’ve created peer support programs and clinician awareness initiatives that speak directly to the unique challenges faced by firefighters and first responders. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淸UCF RESTORES] chose to be the rescuers for us [first responders] and that is the most humbling experience that as a first responder we could ever be embraced by, 麻豆精品 S� Indian River Fire Rescue Firefighter Engineer Lt. Dustin Hawkins says. 麻豆精品 S淵ou created a beacon and a light, purpose built, thoughtfully and intelligently designed, to fill all the voids in the fields and prevent our members from having yet again another, 麻豆精品 S榳e regret to inform you knock on the door. 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S�
Beidel expressed her gratitude to the Florida Legislature, Lockheed Martin, Rice and the first responder community for their support in bringing UCF RESTORES 麻豆精品 S� vision to life.
麻豆精品 S淲e sincerely hope this unit is never needed, but the reality is that catastrophic events are beyond our control, 麻豆精品 S� Beidel says. 麻豆精品 S淲hat we can control is how we respond. With the UCF RESTORES Resiliency Command Center, we 麻豆精品 S檙e ensuring that when disaster strikes, the men and women who run toward danger have the resources they need for optimal physical and mental wellness. 麻豆精品 S�
